WWE’s “The Call” Overperforms at Box Office, Tops “Burt Wonderstone”

By on March 17, 2013

As far as the WWE Universe goes, the tag team of Halle Berry and David Otunga is far more imposing than that of Colin Farrell and Wade Barrett.

A week after its co-distribution effort “Dead Man Down,” which starred Farrell and featured a small role for Barrett, flopped comes a breath of fresh air regarding its movie strategy. Its “The Call” co-distribution, featuring Berry and Otunga, overperformed with an impressive $17.1 million in box office receipts this weekend.

As far as WWE-backed theatrical releases go, “The Call” is the first film to clearly overperform. Estimates leading into the weekend forecast a bow in the low-teens.

Its impressive tally was nothing compared to that of weekend winner “Oz” (down 47% to $42.2 million in its second weekend) but easily enough to beat third-place finisher “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone.” The Steve Carell-Jim Carrey comedy missed projections with just $10.3 million in returns.

“Jack the Giant Slayer” ($6.2 million) and “Identity Thief” ($4.5 million) completed the top five.